Estes PSII nose cone material - suitable adhesive?

[David_Stack]

Good Evening all;

Anyone have any idea what sort of plastic the Estes Pro Series II nose cones are made from? Is it the same polypropylene like that used in the LOC kits (the one that no adhesive will truly bond well with)?

I'm fabricating a bulkhead for a recovery harness eyebolt. I sized it to fit just above the shoulder, so that the nose cone shoulder helps retain it physically, but obviously I still need to glue it inside the nose cone so...



Will epoxy adhere to these Estes PSII nose cones? I've seen a few build threads where these nose cones have been modified in various ways and epoxy was used, but there were no 'longevity' posts to indicate whether those epoxy bonds popped loose. If not epoxy, then...?

Thanks in advance

 

[BEC]

I believe the PSII nose cones are polystyrene. They certainly look and feel like that and are clearly different from the LOC polypropylene nose cones.

 

[Bruiser]

Well I can't really speak for "longevity" but here is what I did on my Lockheed Cuda. It uses a 3" PSII nose cone.

I drilled a series of 1/8" holes around the nose cone where the ring was going to be. I also sanded the inner surface of where the ring was going to be with some 120 grit sand paper. Finally I glued the ring in with epoxy, positioning it so that 1/2 of the 1/8th hole was showing which allowed the nice fillet of glue to fill the holes essentially "pinning" it in place.

I've only flown it once but so far it is good Used this same method on a few others built with PS II parts.



-Bob

 

[David_Stack]

Good Morning Bob, Bernard;

Thank you for the feedback/suggestions. Sounds like epoxy will work just fine, and since I'm able to position the bulkhead far enough up into the nose cone above the ridge formed by the shoulder, I think I can forego the additional holes bored through the sides of the cone, which would be in the actual visible part of the nose cone.

 

[David Schwantz]

Whatever you use, make sure to prep the NC for glue.

 

[Back_at_it]

I can't tell you what they are made from but I can tell you that BSI epoxy creates a stronger bond than the plywood I used for the bulk head. I ripped an eye bolt with a nut on the back clean through 1/8" plywood. The Epoxy and Kevlar held strong.

 

[Rob Campbell]

Gorilla glue may be an option. It seems to stick to everything and it foams up and will create fillets around the plywood ring.

 

[dpower]

Good Morning Bob, Bernard;

Thank you for the feedback/suggestions. Sounds like epoxy will work just fine, and since I'm able to position the bulkhead far enough up into the nose cone above the ridge formed by the shoulder, I think I can forego the additional holes bored through the sides of the cone, which would be in the actual visible part of the nose cone.

I've used this technique with success on LOC & PML nose cones, size the bulkhead to fit above the ridge, insert sideways, rotate, and it has a mechanical stop. No holes drilled in the NC, just sanded with coarse paper and epoxied. The NC ridge is taking most of the force.

 

[David_Stack]

I've used this technique with success on LOC & PML nose cones, size the bulkhead to fit above the ridge, insert sideways, rotate, and it has a mechanical stop. No holes drilled in the NC, just sanded with coarse paper and epoxied. The NC ridge is taking most of the force.

… and that’s just what I decided to do when all was said and done.



Thanks once again to all who offered thoughts and suggestions

 

[DeltaVee]

… and that’s just what I decided to do when all was said and done.

View attachment 500161

Thanks once again to all who offered thoughts and suggestions

I did much the same thing when the transition on my PSII Sahara broke. Fit in a birch plywood bulkhead above the ridge. Tacked it in place with cyano. I then used strips of evergreen white polystyrene around the circumference to build up the inside. I knew plastruct would work from testing... the strips provide additional "shoulder" for the bulkhead and the plastruct fused them to the wall very nicely.



You can see the repair to wall I did using the same evergreen stuff. Even if the thing isn't polystyrene, plastruct handles the bonding to evergreen very nicely